Jeanne d'Albret

Jeanne d'Albret marries William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg

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Jeanne d’Albret was born on the 25th of May 1528, the only child of King Henry II of Navarre and Marguerite.

Though she was raised as one would expect a princess to be raised, as an adult Jeanne defied all the expectations placed upon her, because of her status and gender.

When Jeanne was twelve her uncle, Francis I, King of France, arranged her marriage to William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, Anne of Cleves’ brother.

Jeanne was not thrilled by the prospect, as she had to be literally dragged up the aisle kicking and screaming.

She even wrote a document stating that she did not give her consent to the marriage.

At the age of twelve, it appears that Jeanne was not afraid to make some noise, over something she didnt agree with.

The alliance between Francis and Wiliam was short-lived and four years later the marriage between Jeanne and Wiliam was no longer beneficial.

The marriage was annulled on the grounds that it was never consummated, and Jeanne had never freely consented.

Two years after her annulment, her uncle Francis died and Jeanne’s cousin, Henry II became King of France in 1547.

Now Jeanne was free to remarry, and aged nineteen, Jeanne chose to marry Antoine de Bourbon.

Politically this match was strong, as both had territory in the north and south of France, but contemporary sources seem to have considered it a love match too – at least on Jeanne’s side.

The couple had five children together, but only two, Henry and Catherine, survived to adulthood.

In 1555, Jeanne’s father died and she, as his heir, became Queen of Navarre.

Jeanne spent most her time in Navarre while her husband spent his time elsewhere, and with other women.

Like her mother, Jeanne had a heart for the religious life of her subjects.

Echoing her mothers worship manuals, Jeanne commissioned the translation of the New Testament into the vernacular languages of Basque and Béarnese.

On Christmas Day 1560, Jeanne openly declared herself a Calvinist and made Calvinism the religion of Navarre.

With this announcement, Jeanne instantly became the most powerful female Protestant in Europe, and public enemy number one of the Pope and the rest of her Catholic French family.

In January 1562, Catherine de’Medici, now Queen regent of France, had imposed an edict to try and keep the peace between the Protestant and Catholic factions at court.

However, Parliament pushed back on enforcing it for three months, and so tensions continued to rise.

For Jeanne, things got worse when, while in Paris, Antoine decided to openly support the Catholic faction at court.

Whilst facing personal pressure from her husband, Jeanne also found herself being entreated by Catherine de’Medici, to obey her husband for the sake of peace.

Temperatures finally reached a boiling point on March 1st. Francis, Duke of Guise, and head of the Catholic faction at court, was travelling to his estates, when he stopped off in the town of Wassy.

There, a report reached him of a barn being used for Protestant worship.

Francis and his army decided to 'investigate' resulting in the Massacre of Wassy.

Jeanne decided her best course of action would be to retreat. She left Paris in March and headed South to her husband’s territory of Béarn, where she had lived in the years immediately following their marriage.

In May she paused her long journey to stay at her husband’s chateau in Vendôme.

There Jeanne failed to stop the invasion of a Protestant army numbering 400 men.

Seeing this as a failure, Antoine turned against his wife.

He put out an order for her arrest, with the plan of sending her to a convent.

Nevertheless, Jeanne made it to Béarn safely.

Though she was safe physically, she could not be protected from all forms of attack.

Antoine died in November 1562, leaving Jeanne as sole regent of Navarre until her son Henry came of age.

With Navarre stuck between Catholic Spain and Catholic France, things were not easy for Jeanne.

The Pope threatened her with excommunication and the removal of her lands.

Jeanne replied stating that she did not recognise his authority.

Meanwhile, Philip of Spain made plans to either marry her into a Catholic family or kidnap her and allow France and Spain to invade her lands.

None of the threats made against her ever materialised, but, as a young widow and mother with no close alliances, the emotional strain must have been awful.

In 1568 another War of Religion broke out.

This time, retreat was not an option for Jeanne.

Jeanne and her son Henry moved to the city of La Rochelle where they would be better protected if the fighting came to them.

From La Rochelle, Jeanne established something of a Protestant HQ.

She sent out manifestos to anyone and everyone she thought would help.

She oversaw the safety of refugees arriving in La Rochelle.

She assumed control of fortifications, even going to the battles to assess the damage and rally the forces.

Later, she also sold her jewellery to finance the fighting.

Finally, in August 1570, when the Catholic side ran out of money, the Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was achieved.

Without hiding her distaste for the French court and her distrust of Catherine de’Medici, Jeanne reluctantly agreed for her son Henry to marry King Charles IX’s sister Marguerite.

Jeanne passed away two months before the wedding, on the 9th of June 1572, aged just 43.

On the 28th of June, the Pope’s envoy in the French court at the time, described her passing as:

“an event happy beyond my highest hopes…

her death, a great work of God’s own hand, has put an end to this wicked woman, who daily perpetrated the greatest possible evil.”

This highlights what a real threat Jeanne had been.

She never grew up to be the complacent princess expected of her. Instead, she did the unthinkable.

She openly defied the authority of the men in her life, and stood as a single woman working for the gospel in the face of a very real and ever-present danger.

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https://notjustwivesandmothers.wordpress.com/

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https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders

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Portrait of Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre 1560~School of François Clouet